Senior DSP Engineer at NRF National Research Foundation

About the position

Postion Summary:
The Senior DSP Engineer drives or supports the overall design and development of Radio Astronomy focused digital signal processing systems, products and applications owned by the Data Processing & Pipelines Department within the Engineering & Technology Development Division. Depending on operation requirements, this role may either be more architecturally focused or more implementation focused, but will typically be responsible for elements of both. The Senior DSP Engineer works closely with peers across functional engineering groups and key stakeholders to ensure satisfactory delivery of the Data Processing & Pipelines Department’s systems and products.

Key Responsibilities:

• Architectural design and/or implementation of digital signal processing (DSP) products and applications for Radio Astronomy digital signal processing systems that satisfy higher-level system functional and performance requirementsDesign of these products may contain elements of hardware (FPGA, GPGPU, HPC) and software considerationsSupport analysis, definition, integration, verification and validation activities of DSP products at various system levelsDevelopment of software to control, monitor, debug and support operation of the developed DSP productsDrive, follow and support the relevant systems engineering processes for product development throughout the entire product or application lifecycle from conceptualisation through to decommissioningSupport deployment, maintenance, upgrades, operation and decommissioning of developed productsManage, support and coordinate resources to ensure delivery of products within project constraintsParticipate in the generation of technical system and product-related documentation applicable to developed DSP products to support the delivery and handover of the Data Processing & Pipelines Group’s productsDrive and participate in Research & Development initiatives within the domain of expertise to develop novel ideas for future products and contribute to the overall continuous development of the group

Minimum Qualification:

• Bachelors Degree / Advanced Diploma / NQF 7

Minimum Experience:

• 5-13 years

• B
• Tech (Eng) (NQF 7) in Electrical, Electronics or Mechatronics Engineering with 13+ years relevant experience, ORB
• Eng/B
• Sc (Eng) (NQF 8) in Electrical, Electronics or Mechatronics Engineering with 9+ years relevant experience; ORMSc / M
• Eng (NQF 9) in Electrical, Electronics or Mechatronics Engineering with 7+ years relevant experience; ORPhD (NQF 10) in Electrical, Electronics or Mechatronics Engineering with 5+ years relevant experience

Experience:

• Experience as an Engineer with a track-record of designing and implementing complete digital signal processing systems on either FPGA-based hardware OR GPGPU/HPC systems Experience building signal processing applications for Radio Astronomy instrumentation in particular is advantageous but not requiredExperience in both designing digital signal processing systems at a higher, product level as well as low-level implementation of components and featuresImplementing parallel processing on FPGA or GPU-based systemsImplementation of accelerated and optimised DSP algorithmsExperience analysing system requirements and defining a suitable system designWriting technical documentation describing the implementation and design of products at various technical levelsSoftware Development or Scripting or Scientific Computing proficiency in either Python, C++, or MatlabWorking with workflow and issue management tools (e
• g
• , JIRA)Working with source code and version control tools (e
• g
• , Git)

Knowledge:

• Typical radio astronomy instrumentation: e
• g, spectrometers, correlators, beamformers (advantageous)Multi-rate and parallel implementations of Digital Signal Processing Operations such as FFTs, Filters, DDS, DDCHigh-speed data transport such as ethernet and/or knowledge of large-scale networks (advantageous)Extensive and deep knowledge of FPGA firmware design OR GPGPU and HPC programmingControlling and monitoring of DSP applications and componentsSystems Engineering Processes or Software Design Life CycleLinux operating systems and development toolsWorking with workflow and issue management tools (eg, JIRA)Working with source code and version control tools (e
• g, Git)

Additional Notes:
Desire to continuously learn, problem solve and acquire new skills with cutting edge technologyA clear and methodical approach to problem solvingA high attention to detail, excellent organisation skillsGood communication skills, written and verbalAble to effectively manage and lead a team on a technical projectAbility to effectively transfer knowledge and skills to other team membersEagerness to develop a technical specialisation and expertiseWillingness to travel both locally and internationally depending on operational needsThe NRF website provides more details on the initiatives and activities Applicants should submit a comprehensive CV by registering and apply online through the NRF Recruitment and Selection Portal. Applications should be accompanied by a letter of motivation indicating the applicant·s suitability for the position. The names and contact details of at least three referees should be provided.

Desired Skills:

• Skilled in applied field of position
• Knowledge to be relevant
• Responsible in performing duties

About The Employer:

The National Research Foundation (NRF) supports and promotes research and human capital development through funding, the provision of National Research Facilities and science outreach platforms and programmes to the broader community in all fields of science and technology, including natural sciences, engineering, social sciences and humanities. The South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO) spearheads South Africa's activities in the Square Kilometre Array Radio Telescope, commonly known as the SKA, in engineering, science and construction. SARAO is a National Facility managed by the National Research Foundation and incorporates radio astronomy instruments and programmes such as the MeerKAT telescope in the Karoo, the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory (HartRAO) in Gauteng, the African Very Long Baseline Interferometry (AVN) programme in nine African countries as well as the associated human capital development and commercialisation endeavours.